


The Touzoku Tragedy

by alexanderotis47



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Car Accident, Depression, F/M, M/M, Panic Attacks, Self Harm, Sex, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-14
Updated: 2016-02-17
Packaged: 2018-05-20 07:55:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5997781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alexanderotis47/pseuds/alexanderotis47
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All it had taken was one stupid little mistake, one fight to turn there lives upside down and caused the death of their little sister and mother. With a distant father that sometimes forgets they're there, instead trying to re-create the family he had lost, the three brothers have to fend for themselves. Through many hardships the trio faces, a new family moves into town and gives them the light they've been seeking since their family was torn apart. Rating is Teen but may go up with later chapters. Enjoy! (also this story is continuing, I just don't know how to let people know that there will not only be one chapter I'm sorry)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 

Crash! First there wasn't any pain, just shock. The next thing that registered was the metallic scent of blood. Then, I felt liquid poor down my abdomen and I forced my eyes opened. And then, there was blood curdling screams. Were they my own? I looked down to see a a steel pole sticking out of my stomach, and though I felt the urge to scream I couldn't help but admire how painless it all felt at this moment. I tilted my head upwards, some glass fell on my lap and I look from left to right, slowly, registering the blood pouring down my mother's face, down my brother Akefia's face. I attempted to look further to the right and noticed the source of the screaming. My twin Ryou, covered in blood he was screaming at me, saying something but I couldn't hear him. Next was my little sister Amane, covered in blood, staining her white dress and turning it a dark red, unconscious and silent. 

Next was my ten-year old brother, unbuckling his seat belt and climbing back to attend Ryou and I. His face paled when he looked at me, but his main objective was getting the two of us out of the car since we were the only ones conscious at that time. Ryou was in full-fledged panic mode and tried to fight my brother as he pulled us from the overturned vehicle, my brother was too strong for him and shouted at him to stay 100 feet from the car while he got me next. That's when I first began to feel the heat of the car as it began to start on fire and the pain of my abdomen. Luckily the pole was short enough for me to be pulled from the car without an issue, but that didn't stop the unbearable pain. I remember shouting at Akefia to stop moving, to make the pain go away, to get Amane and mom out of the car. He tried to run back to the car but when the flames began to lick up the metal of the car, it was too late. They were already dead from the impact of that semi. They were gone...forever...and I was the one at fault. 

As Akefia slowly pulled the pole out of my stomach, I began to black out from the pain, the last remaining image I saw was the sight of our car burning and our mother and little sister burning to ashes inside. 

~Ryou 

At first we were yelling at each other, we were fighting over something stupid like all siblings do. Bakura wanted a turn with the gameboy DS we shared, but he already played with it for an hour already. Akefia was listening to music, our mother was driving, and our little sister was asleep. We were coming back home from Akefia's soccer game that afternoon, his team won the game and he was the team's captain. As boys we were expected to be very close to each other, but that wasn't the case with Akefia and Bakura. Bakura could care less about Akefia's soccer games. It's not like they fought with each other on a daily basis, it was just that Bakura wasn't into sports and Akefia was. I on the other hand, didn't like sports as well, but I was more neutral and preferred to help our mother in the kitchen or read. 

So we were fighting, Bakura mostly yelling at me which woke up Amane from her nap and made her start to cry. My mother who was driving, left us alone for a few moments, in hopes that we'd solve our problem ourselves which sometimes happened between us. Sadly, this was not one of those times as Bakura ignored my attempts to try and keep the situation calm. Our mother turned around to scold us for waking Amane with our fighting, and as soon as our names left her lips a semi was coming right at us. She wasn't paying attention as the sleep-deprived driver turned towards our car. And then there was a loud crash, glass shattered around us and we were jolted around painfully as the car flipped a couple times into the ditch and we were suspended upside down. I didn't register much that day, I don't even remember being in pain until I awoke in the hospital, the only thing I registered was looking over at Bakura and seeing a piece of metal sticking out of his abdomen. The pole probably came in through the front windshield from the semi when we collided. That was the only thing I registered completely because at that moment my mind went into a swirling panic. My brother was going to die! He was bleeding! I was bleeding! My sister, my mother, Akefia, was bleeding! Mom wasn't waking up and oh how I wished I could hear Amane crying, just to be sure she was alright. 

"Ryou, come here, stop screaming and come here, we have to get out of the car," Akefia shouted, blood dripping from a gash on his eye. He scrambled into the back seat and grabbed me around my torso, but I didn't want to get out of the car! We had to get Amane out of the car! We had to get mom out of the car and make sure they were alright. There was so much blood...so much blood- 

"Ryou, stop fighting me, I have to get Bakura out of the car, do you understand me? Get away from the car, take one hundred footsteps away from the car okay, to that hill up there would be fine. Don't you move until I come back do you understand me?" Akefia said in all seriousness, giving me a small push when I tried to walk back towards the car. I didn't even bother to count, hell I was shaking, I was scared to death! I didn't even know if all this blood on my clothes was mine or Bakura's or even Amane's. I just ran shakily to the hill before collapsing onto the dry, prickly grass. I turned around to see Akefia pulling Bakura out of the car who began to scream out in agony, as he began to walk towards me I noticed the car was catching on fire and I began to scream once more. Akefia quickly set Bakura off on the ground before grabbing me around the torso when I tried to run back to the car. 

"Akefia! Amane and Mommy are going to die! We have to get them out of the car!" I screamed 

"Ryou, they're already dead, they died when the semi hit them, we have to wait for help," Akefia tried to explain, but I was in total meltdown mode. Our father was somewhere far away digging up artifacts, the only person that could take care of us was my mother and she was gone! She couldn't be gone, I refused to believe that my only little sister and my mother was dead! When the car was totally engulfed in flames, I fell to my knees and I sat there bawling while Akefia went to Bakura's aid who was shaking and seemed completely out of it. When Akefia grabbed the slicked up pole, covered in Bakura's blood, I ran over. 

"You're going to kill him! You're going to kill him!" I screamed, trying to stop Akefia from pulling the metal object from his abdomen. We already lost two people, I refused to lose my twin brother along with them. Bakura was screaming with Akefia trying to whisper calming words 

"I'm not going to kill him Ryou! Trust me! He's in a lot of pain, it needs to be removed so I can press down on the wound so he won't lose anymore blood!" Akefia shouted back, trying to focus while trying to shove me away at the same time. 

"No, no, no you're going to kill him!" I continued to scream above the sound of sirens that kept coming closer and closer, I attempted to once again remove his hands from Bakura who had passed out but he kept shoving me away. Akefia managed to pull the pole out of Bakura's stomach and by that time the ambulance had arrived and two paramedics held me down and gave me sedative. Another two were helping Akefia and Bakura. I started to lose consciousness when they began to carry me away from my brothers and the last thing I saw was the fiery remains of our car and the feeling of dread. Everything that we had known had now changed...forever. 

~Akefia 

You know, I never expected MY life could be changed so fast. I mean, I heard of it happening to other people in textbooks or on the news, but I never would've expected it to happen to me especially after a nice win against our school's rival The Trojans. I was just staring out the window listening to my music and behaving. My little sister was in her booster seat, asleep. My two brothers were in the back, Ryou was playing on the DS which was practically mine but I shared it with my other brothers. I guess Bakura wanted to pick a fight, probably because he was bored and wanted a turn with the DS so they were fighting in the back. I turned up the volume and ignored them. I wish I would've turned around to keep them quiet, that way Amane wouldn't have gotten woken up by Bakura's yelling, that way my mom wouldn't have had to turn around and miss that semi that was coming our way. Maybe it was fate, I mean it was pretty coincidental that that semi driver happened to fall asleep at that time behind the wheel. Anyways, it just happened so fast. One moment we were driving forward and the next the semi bumped into our car and flipped it a couple times. I think I might've passed out for a few moments because the next thing I knew, I was suspended upside-down and there was screaming. 

I looked over to my mother to see her chest no longer moving. Tendrils of red dripped down from her face. She was dead. That's when my instincts took over. Screaming meant someone was alive, I had to get them out and based from how hot the car was getting, it had to be soon. I was aching, my eye stung like hell, but I unbuckled my seat belt and made my way into the back seat, my injured eye was closed. Ryou covered in red, was screaming at Bakura, his eyes wide, I looked over to see what he was screaming at and I felt my heart stop. There was a metal pole sticking out of my baby brother's stomach and he was bleeding pretty bad, but he was alive. His eyes were glazed over and he seemed pretty confused but he was alive. I looked over to Amane, her white dress was stained in blood and her neck seemed to be at a sickening angle. Just by one look at her, I knew she was dead. I ignored the way my chest ached and focused on getting my two brothers out of there, the car was already becoming unbearably hot. 

"Ryou, come here, stop screaming and come here, we have to get out of the car," I said 

I went for him, getting the younger out of his seat as gently and quickly as I could. He wouldn't stop screaming and he began to fight me. I don't know why, I mean couldn't he figure out just how dangerous of a situation we were in!? But I couldn't blame him, the more he kicked and screamed, the more I knew he was alive and well. We were lucky that the passenger door was able to open, although with difficulty, and I scrambled out with Ryou before dumping him on the ground. 

He tried to run back into the car and I was surprised to find that my reflexes were still as fast as normal, the soccer team didn't appoint me captain for nothing after all. 

I locked eyes with him and kept my voice as low and as steady as I could,"Ryou, stop fighting me, I have to get Bakura out of the car, do you understand me? Get away from the car, take one hundred footsteps away from the car okay, to that hill up there would be fine. Don't you move until I come back do you understand me?" 

To help the other hopefully snap a little into reality I gave him a small shove towards the hill. I would never forget how fearful his brown doe-eyes looked at me, but he obeyed me and ran up to the hill. 

I turned back to grab Bakura who was pale and seemed about ready to pass out. 

"Hey buddy, stay with me here okay? Can you hear me Bakura? Bakura? Stay awake okay? Help is on the way, it's okay," I said calmly, trying hard to ignore the amount of blood that seemed to be coming out of his body. It was scarier when he didn't seem to respond to what I was saying to him, I almost thought he had some brain damage or something. When I made the decision to move him however he began to scream out in agony. 

"Sorry, sorry, I'm sorry, I have to do this," I tried to apologize as he continued to scream and grasp onto my shirt tightly. His tiny body was beginning to shake violently as tears began to stream down his face. We made it out of the car just as it was beginning to start on fire, and though I wanted to desperately go back to remove my mother and sister's body from the car before they burned, I had to pay attention to my brothers. I made my way over to Ryou who began to scream frantically, his eyes reflecting the light of the fire. 

"Akefia! Amane and Mommy are going to die! We have to get them out of the car!" He screamed, tears rolling down his tiny face. His eyes pleaded with me, hoping that by some miracle they would be okay. 

"Ryou, they're already dead, they died when the semi hit them, we have to wait for help," I tried to explain, my voice beginning to shake. As much as I wanted to comfort both of them at the same time, I had to focus on Bakura and try to stop the bleeding. I placed him on the ground and knelt beside him which was awkward since he had an iron-like grip on my shirt. 

"Kefi...i-it hu-hurts," he choked out. 

"It's okay Bakura, you're going to be okay, I promise," I responded as calmly as I could, even if I was beginning to doubt his chances,"I'm going to try to pull this thing out of you okay? Be a good boy for me and hold still." 

I grasped the pole that was slicked in his blood in my hands and began to pull, but Ryou began to freak out. 

"You're going to kill him! You're going to kill him!" The smaller shouted hysterically as he tried to claw my hands away from the pole. 

"I'm not going to kill him Ryou! Trust me! He's in a lot of pain, it needs to be removed so I can press down on the wound so he won't lose anymore blood!" I tried to reason as I tried to focus on keeping Ryou away from Bakura and comforting Bakura at the same time who began to scream bloody murder. 

"No, no, no you're going to kill him!" Ryou continued to scream until I gave him a hard eough shove to send up sprawling to the ground. The sirens of ambulances were loud around this time, I couldn't believe I didn't hear them before, but I was busy with my two brothers. In a blur the sound of car doors slamming and shouting was noticeable, I managed to get the pole out of Bakura's abdomen and pressed down as hard as I could against his wound. He was passed out at this point, barely breathing, but with the sound of voices I was allowed to breath a small sigh of relief. Two paramedics sedated Ryou who gave me a look of utter betrayal before his eyes fluttered closed and he was taken away by the paramedics. Another two surrounded Bakura and I, that was the point where I began to start losing my own head because they tried to separate him from me. Yes, I wanted to desperately be there for both of my twin brothers, but Bakura was going to possibly die and I didn't want him to be in the company of strangers if he did! Granted, we were never really close, but after the accident I have never felt closer to my two brothers. Especially when I would soon have to raise both of them in the place of my father. 

"No, n-n I need to be with him, he's dying!" I shouted, as one held me away and tried to drag me off to a nearby ambulance. 

"Your brothers will be fine, but we have to take a look at your eye. You'll see them again in the hospital," the paramedic said as they shoved me in the back of the ambulance and forced me to lay down on a stretcher. 

"You don't understand! He's dying, I need to be with him!" I shouted as I bolted back up to get a nice view of Bakura being laid down on another stretcher and taken into an ambulance. I also got a good look at the firefighters beginning to try and stop the burning, black wreckage of our car. As the paramedic signaled the driver to speed off, I was shoved against the stretcher again and was threatened to be sedated if I couldn't calm down. How could I calm down!? I lost my mother and sister in one fell swoop! One of my brothers was knocking on death's door, and the other was going to wake up alone with no idea where he was or where his brothers were! To make matters worse our father was miles upon miles away in Egypt on an archaeological dig! 

The rest was a blur, I can remember events here and there though. I remember I couldn't see Bakura at all when we got to hospital, I had to get my eye checked out by a doctor and stitched up before I got to see Ryou. The doctor was amazed at our injuries. Ryou had gotten a broken arm and a few deep scratches along with a concussion. I for one had a scarred up eyes, a few deep scars and a sprained wrist along with a concussion. We were both pretty lucky. Bakura on the other hand wasn't so lucky. His heart had stopped once during the ride to the hospital, but luckily they were able to resuscitate him and he was currently in the ICU in critical, but stable condition. 

When I walked to Ryou's room, the little one had tried to run up to me but I forced him to lay back in bed and instead got into the little bed with him. We laid like that for awhile. We were just too shocked at what happened and worried about our future. All we could do was stay there together and wait, but it was enough for that moment. 

We both fell asleep at some point, but I don't remember how long we were asleep. A nurse woke us up to tell us our father is coming back from Egypt and our grandmother was going to come up from a faraway town to take care of us while our father planned the funeral out. She also told us that we were allowed to finally see Bakura, but what met me was something I was not prepared for whatsoever. 

He was connected to so many tubes and machines. The way he breathed seemed so inhuman, and he looked so pale and small in that hospital bed. They said he was doing better, but it sure as hell didn't look like it. Ryou seemed just as freaked out. 

"Kefi, why does he have so many tubes on his body? Does it hurt? Is he gonna die?" 

"I don't know sweetheart, but these tubes are keeping him alive for the time being," I could only respond. I wasn't used to being the adult at this point in my life, in fact I thought once our father got here everything would be somehow okay. But it wasn't okay, because after the funeral our father detached from us. He wasn't the type of father to abuse us, but after mom and Amane died he seemed to forget he had three children to support. That's when I became a father at a young age, that's when I started to learn how to steal, that's how I got my name The Thief King and how I began to teach my "sons" how to steal as well. 

~Bakura 

When I came to it was to white walls...well white everything to be exact. Was it all a bad dream? 

"B-Bakura?" A familiar voice, tinged with hope questioned,"A-Are you awake?" 

I tried to choke out a response but what ensued was a painful coughing fit. Strong arms wrapped around me amidst all the tubes and gently patted my back until the coughs subsided. What met me next was a straw poking at my nose at a failed attempt at aiming at my mouth. 

"Drink it. It's water," the voice said. After blinking my eyes a few times I registered that amidst all the white there was a figure in front of me. Ryou. He had a cast on his left arm. Usually Ryou always had a small smile on his face, this time though there wasn't a trace of a smile on his lips as the straw poked at my cracked lips, prompting me to take a sip. 

I obeyed, starting to wake up a bit more although I wished I really didn't because it felt like I was ran over by a car. The arms that were around me slowly guided me back against a strong chest after I took a few sips which I soon figured out was Akefia. 

"Where am I?" I asked, my voice sounding like I gargled on nails. 

"The hospital. Do you remember what happened, anything at all?" Akefia questioned, he had a bandage over his right eye. 

What happened? I looked away and stared down at my hands as I tried to recollect anything that happened before I passed out. The car accident...but wasn't that just a dream? In a rush the pain kept flooding back, the high pitched squealing, the flames growing higher, the fear in my brother's eyes. The blood, oh god the smell of the it, the way it was painted on my brother's face, like some sick, really early Halloween prank. It was all my fault, the blood, the pain, the fire. 

"W-Where are they?" I stammered, my body beginning to shake, hoping desperately that it was just a lie, just a dream, that they were still alive. 

"Who?" Akefia questioned 

"M-Mom a-and Amane." 

"They're gone Bakura," Ryou said quietly, his already red-rimmed eyes beginning to fill again with tears. Gone. My fault. All gone, I couldn't even apologize, to tell them I loved them, to hug them one last time. God I was such a fucking idiot, a fucking idiotic seven year old going on eight! My chest began to hurt, my body began to shake and I think blood began to pour down my cheeks. It was getting hard to breath...it was all my fault...all my fault, all my fault. We were fucked, I fucked up everything, who was going to watch us now!? Mom was the one who watched us while Dad was at work. My darling, innocent sister was killed by me! I was a criminal! I should be dead! 

"Bakura? Bakura!? Hey bud, it's okay, it's okay you didn't mean it, it's not your fault," Akefia soothed as my face was pressed against his chest as he gently rubbed at my head. I felt something break within my chest and a strangled sob broke past my lips. Ryou must've joined us at some point because soft, tired crying joined the violent sobbing of my own. I tried to choke out apologies but all that broke through were more strangled sobs. It hurt. It hurt so fucking much it nearly drove me insane. In fact I was surprised that I was still alive, still breathing once the sobs began to subside only to be replaced by exhaustion. 

When I opened my swollen and burning eyes the sleepy face of my twin met me, one tan, protective hand on his shoulder and the other on mine. I sleepily looked up at my brother Akefia whose purple eyes shimmered as he fixed me with a tired, but comforting smile as if to say that everything would be okay. Everything would be okay as long as we were together. 

 

~Bakura 

The service was surprisingly short, with a small group of people ranging from relatives, to friends, to classmates mostly from Akefia's class. Ryou and I usually stuck together, and after the accident we stuck even closer, away from our peers. Ryou actually got along with everyone else, but he always stuck around me because I was less sociable and he didn't want me to feel lonely. As I looked around at the other gravestones I couldn't help but remember how we'd use to come here to run around and play. We'd play hide and seek behind the gravestones, we'd try to find the oldest one or the newest one. Sometimes Akefia would bring along crayons and paper so we could document our favorite ones by coloring over them. It was especially useful for the really old ones where it was sometimes hard to tell the name and dates due to erosion. 

There was no question as to what the two newest gravestones would be this time around and where they would be located. Under an oak tree I stood with my two brothers, my father behind us, but distant. I looked down at the gravestones, at the names etched in them. Amane Touzoku, Birth: April 1 2000, Death: August 20 2004. Then the one right beside it. Raven Touzoku, Birth: February 12 1978, Death: August 20 2004. Akefia and I stood, numb, one of our arms around Ryou who was sniffling quietly as two coffins were placed underneath the ground and a prayer was said by the priest. Afterwards, the group dispersed, some to the reception, some back to their homes. We were forced to go to the reception, even though I really could care less about how sorry everyone else was of my losses. It was my fault anyways. 

Our father remained supportive and around us when I was still recovering in the hospital and during the funeral. After the reception, he started a new job with working at the local museum now that he was the only suitable guardian to take care of us since our grandmother lived far away. That was when he began to grow even more distant, to the point that he forgot he had three sons left to feed. That was when we had to fend for ourselves, to support each other, to make sure the other was ready for school, that the other was fed and clothed. That was when my big brother became the Thief King and I, his student.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: suicidal thoughts and self harm

Chapter 2 

~Akefia (A couple weeks later) 

I sprinted as quickly as I could into the night after breaking into a grocery store with different food items in my arms. I was careful not to drop any as I darted around from alleyway to alleyway, to rooftop to rooftop on my way home. I didn't have too many items in my arms, just small pickings here and there so as not to cause suspicion and there was always the fact that I was only ten at the moment and therefore couldn't carry much. 

Even before my mother's death I was interested in the world of mystery and criminals which proved to be useful in the long-run. After our mother died and we began to run out of food I began to experiment with my brothers who had become apprehensive of our father's growing distance, especially when he had stopped coming home after some nights. I had my brother's load their pockets with some fake money we had lying around, and I'd attempt to steal things from their room when they were unaware. When it was night and they were fast asleep I would practice picking locks on my mother's jewelry boxes or the old locks my father had stored in the garage. I soon figured out I had a natural gift after only a few times being caught by my brothers. I wasn't into thieving diamonds or breaking into a bank, no, I was more interested in learning how to steal food without being caught. It didn't have to be something complex, just something to get us fed. It wasn't like there wasn't food in the house, but there wasn't enough for the three of us and I planned to change that since my father chose not to, even after bringing it up. 

When I got back home, I crept in stealthily before hiding my stash in my room, and closing my door almost all the way. My body was tingling with the adrenaline rush I always received after a night of thieving. Once I spread out the stuff on my bed I began to sort through it. This stash was special since my brother's birthdays were coming up in just a few days and along with the food I had stolen a few small toys for each. It wasn't a lot, but with the distance between our father we didn't have much anymore and I was too young to get a job. After crouching over my loot I got up and began to look for paper, any kind of paper to wrap their presents up with. I managed to find some crumpled up newspapers, luckily ones that didn't involve our loss, and set to work to gently cover the items. Once they were covered I began to hide the stolen items around my room before grabbing an onion for myself, after all I needed to stay fed as well to keep my brother's fed. Once I had finished the onion I began to drift off to sleep, but that sleep didn't stay long when I heard my door creak open and a thud on the ground. 

~Bakura 

I couldn't help myself, especially when Ryou and I were left alone like this on some nights. I began to panic. Of course I knew that Akefia went out at night to steal things, I mean he sort of used us as guinea pigs but I was nervous, what if he got caught? He told us time and time again that he wouldn't get caught, and we both knew he was surprisingly gifted at committing theft, but even the best thieves failed sometimes. What if tonight would be the night he failed and left us alone, how were we to survive without him, even just a few days? So, I couldn't help but hide behind a door and stare at the clear shot I had to the front door, just waiting for him. Ryou was already fast asleep in my bed like usual, he was too afraid to sleep by himself, and against Akefia's rules I snuck out. 

I inwardly sighed in relief when I saw my brother's figure creep through the door and as much as I wanted to run up to him and hug him I decided to stay put for fear he'd be angry. I watched him as he made his way into his room and quietly padded along the hallway towards his room before peeking through the small crack in his door. I watched him wrap some things up in newspaper and hide some other things in his room, wondering how on earth he could've managed to get so many things without getting caught. I wanted to be just like him, I wanted to pay my brothers back for the damage I've caused a couple weeks ago. I didn't want my brother to spend more hours awake at night when we had school the next day. I could see how exhausted he looked every morning, if he wasn't stealing, he was comforting us after nightmares, but he'd never show how exhausted he was. As he bit into an onion like an apple I couldn't help but scrunch my nose a bit because I hated onions, but he seemed at peace so I smiled a bit to. 

When he began to doze off, I couldn't help but begin to fall asleep aswell against the door which led me to facepalm the floor in a rather painful way. 

"Whoa! Kura, buddy are you okay!? What are you doing up out of bed, nightmare?" Akefia yelped as he jumped off his bed and ran to my aid. 

"Hnn? Couldn't sleep...wanted to wait for you to come home," I responded blearily as I was picked up from the ground and held in his arms. 

 

"Kura, I already told you that there is no way I'm going to get caught. I'm never going to leave you two all alone." 

"I wanna learn how to be a thief like you." 

"Kura it's not safe for little boys like you, you'll get hurt," he tried to explain. 

"What if you get caught and you can't see us anymore!?" 

"Kura that's not going to happe-" 

"What if it does! I want to learn how to be a thief to" I protested, tears beginning to collect in my eyes. 

"Kura, quiet down, you're going to wake Ryou," Akefia said sternly. 

"I wanna be a thief! I wanna be a thief and help you!" I continued, the lack of sleep I had during those days making it very easy for me to have temper tantrums. One   
thing about Akefia, he wasn't afraid to discipline us, especially when he had to accept the role as caregiver, so in response to my outburst I had a hand slapped over my mouth and two purple eyes glaring at me. 

"Bakura Touzoku, if you wake up your brother I will paddle your ass. Neither of you get enough sleep as it is," Akefia explained sternly before sighing and softening his gaze,"You're too young to go out there with me, but if you behave and eat your vegetables I'll teach you the basics, alright?" 

I continued to sob in response, both out of relief and because of the threat. I tended to be the trouble child and therefore got smacked a few times (okay a lot of times) out of discipline, but unlike my mother or father, Akefia could hit pretty fucking hard to knock some sense into your brain. Akefia sighed again tiredly and decided to walk around his room and wait for me to tire myself out which never took long thanks to sleep deprivation from nightmares. 

When I awoke the next morning I received my first lesson from the infamous Thief King which only paved the way for many more lessons to follow especially when I began to start getting into fights at school. 

~Ryou 

I yelped as I was pushed roughly to the ground as a group of tall boys stood over me guffawed at the weakling they decided to target today. The leader, whose name seemed to be along the lines of Jounouchi, had my stuffed rabbit in his clutches and hung it over me like a tempting piece of steak to a dog. The stuffed rabbit was a gift from Akefia in hopes of offering comfort should I ever feel distressed at school which was becoming often as we became the poor kids in school. It wasn't very large which made it easy to hide it in the side pocket of my backpack, but I would carry it around during recess. Usually Bakura accompanied me, but he was busy trying to practice stealing things around the playground which usually resulted in failure by being yelled at or sent to stand at the fence by a teacher. However a flash of white and blue entered my vision as the leader was sent to the ground with a red mark to his cheek. 

 

"Hey get off me you jerk!" Jou screamed as his goonies stood around in confusion as what I realized to be Bakura was pushed backwards before the leader climbed on top of him and began to punch at his face, the rabbit was long forgotten on the ground. I made the move to pick it up, too frightened to intervene on the fight even though my brother was taking a pummeling. 

"What is the meaning of this!?" a teacher shrieked as she tore away the kid on top of Bakura. 

"He punched me!" Jou shouted. 

"They were messing with Ryou," Bakura protested, his brown eyes set into a heated glare. 

"I don't know what has gotten into you lately Touzoku but this is your third warning. I'm sending you both to the principal's office and you'll have your parents to answer to tonight," the teacher said as she roughly grabbed Bakura's arm as well as Jounouchi's and hauled them off. 

That incident was the start of Bakura's habit of getting into fights he knew he couldn't win...at least at that moment. After a couple visits to the principal's office he tried to keep his fights off school grounds, which were still brutal, but at least he wasn't going to be faced with expulsion any time soon. It wasn't that he was looking for fights, the fights seemed to look for him, especially when it involved me. Whenever he came back from one, Akefia would patch him up before scolding him, as years went by that became my job. As years went by those scoldings seemed less effective, and the fights more dangerous as he began to take Akefia's shifts to steal for our next meal. Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves, there's still a good chunk of story left before I get explain the light of my life. 

~ Bakura 

Yeah, I really shouldn't have come home after that first fight. It wasn't because Ryou would worry over my face, it was because of my older brother who scared the living shit out of me. When I got home that day I was put to the test without warning, quite literally. Akefia chased me all over the house for several minutes before he caught up with me and grabbed me around the ankle before lifting me up. 

"So, you want to fight do ya?" He said as angry purple eyes met mine. 

"They were messing with Ryou," I protested. 

Akefia sighed before muttering under his breath something along the lines of "what am I going to do with you two?" 

After a few moments of dangling there, upside down, a small smile lit up Akefia's face,"Alright then, but by the looks of it you got your ass kicked, so how about I   
teach you how to really fight, as long as you don't make it your life's goal to seek out every single one you find." 

As I was gently set down on the floor I looked up at him, my head tilted to the side in confusion. Mom never wanted us to learn how to fight, I mean the only reason   
Akefia knew how to fight was only because he had managed to convince her to let him go out for karate. Sure it wasn't like fighting with knives, after all it is supposed to be a sport to encourage self-defense, but training with Akefia had a mixture of karate and the use the weapons. 

To this day I still don't know how he learned how to use a knife, he'd always mumble about learning how to from a friend of his that he had met in the sport. But after that day Ryou and I had slowly fell into our niches in the household. Ryou would take care of the cleaning and cooking since he loved to help mom out around the kitchen and refused to steal for food. Akefia would be our parent, to provide and protect us, while I sort of fit in between the two. Some days I'd help Ryou, and other days I'd help Akefia. While this was going on, we'd see our father like a neighbor that came over to ask for a cup of sugar. He'd bring home groceries, never enough for all of us, he'd bring home this woman every once in a while but only on nights he smelled of alcohol. Every time he saw one of us it was like he was sheepish about the fact he had three kids, like it was a surprise for him. Sometimes he'd apologize about not being home all the time, that work was busier than normal or some bull shit like that. He was a fucking disgrace. 

Things began to change months later. That woman kept coming home with our dad and that led to one thing or another, as in they began dating. One night when my father came home, in which I had the misfortune to be spotted by him, he said that we would be moving in with his girlfriend in about a week. We would be moving away from the house that we were all raised in, we would be moving away from Amane and Mom. I felt my stomach lurch sickeningly at the thought and I wished greatly that Akefia was the one trying to break this down to me, especially after his next words. 

"Doesn't that sound great? We can finally get away from dusty old place and you'll have new playmates," my father said. 

I slowly shook my head back and forth and stepped away from him. No, no it wouldn't be great, not at all. 

"Bakura...buddy it's okay, you'll still have your schoolmates, it'll just be a different house," he said, trying to reach out for me but I was long gone. 

"No no no! I don't wanna move! I wanna stay here with Amane and mom! You can't make me go with you, your not the boss of me!" I screamed. 

"Bakura, I'm your father you have to obey me. This change of environment will be good for you, I've heard from your teachers that you haven't been behaving well in school..." 

"You're not my father! I hate you! You're the worst father ever!" I yelled before backing away from him and running to my room to which I nearly ran into Akefia who heard the commotion and decided to investigate. A tan hand clasped around my arm and turned me so I was facing Akefia and I cursed his quick reflexes. 

"Bakura, what's wrong?" Akefia tried, violet pools filled with concern, but I was too busy trying to wrench myself free of his grip when I heard our father attempt to once again try to get through to me. Akefia hissed and tightened his grip when I sent a kick into his stomach, but I was too small and skinny for my age to break free. By the time I saw my father's figure walk towards us I stopped resisting and instead hid my face in his neck. The commotion also lured Ryou in who walked up beside Akefia and grabbed a fistful of his pant leg as he looked from us to our father in confusion. 

"It seems Bakura and I have gotten into a little spat, but I'll take care of it," he said, reaching out towards me. 

"No, I'll take care of it. He's tired, maybe after a good nights rest he'll be okay," Akefia responded, his violet eyes steeled over but his tone polite, but based on the   
tightening grip around me he was pretty pissed off. 

" Oh, well I hope he feels better soon. I've been meaning to tell you guys some very great news. We're moving out of this old place and into my girlfriend's place. There's two kids a bit younger than Ryou and Bakura, and theirs a girl your age Akefia! It could be a nice change, and you'll still be able to go to the same school to," my father explained in further detail which only made more upset. I looked down at Ryou who was biting his lip and trying hard not to cry, and I could feel Akefia stiffen up and adjust me so a hand rested on Ryou's head. 

"Yeah, that sounds great dad. Can't wait to meet this girl, I'm sure Bakura and Ryou are a little excited to. They're just tired and it's such a big change. Anyways, I'm going to go put them to bed," Akefia said, his voice barely able to keep steady before he turned away from our father in favor of taking both of us to his room. 

"Yes, I suppose I could've picked a better time to tell you. Thank you, ever since your mother died you really turned into quite the man of the house haven't you?" 

I felt Akefia tense up further before muttering a small yes before walking into his room and closing the door behind him. That's when Akefia really started to show his true colors,"That fucking asshole. Just when things were settling down and becoming normal." 

"I don't want to move, what about Amane and Mom? We've been here for our whole lives," Ryou said through tears. 

"I know baby, but sometimes we have to do things we really don't want to do," Akefia tried to explain as he helped Ryou up on his bed before setting to the task of setting me down who was a crying mess. 

"I-I'm not going! H-He can't make me!" I sobbed angrily. 

"No, you're going to come with us. Remember? As long as we have each other, whatever happens and wherever we go, we'll be okay. Right? Or was that a lie? Look, we'll be okay, we'll make it through this, I promise," Akefia soothed as he joined us on the bed, sitting cross-legged with a soft smile on his face although he was trying hard not to lose his composure. 

~Akefia 

Yeah, it took everything I had not to throw a fit like my younger brothers, I mean he's ditched us for how many months and now he decides it would be all sunshine and rainbows when he told us we were moving away!? We were moving away from our losses, we were moving away from the house we were born in only to move in with a lady and her kids whom we knew nothing about!? Well, it was a pretty big shocker, especially when it hasn't even been a year since their deaths and as much as I wanted to cry, kick, and scream at him, I had bigger things to worry about, like how the twins are going to cope with this new change. 

So after several minutes of trying to soothe them I had two eight year olds fast asleep and clinging onto me on either side. I was left with my own thoughts as I tried to separate the pros from the cons. I guess it might be a good change, I won't need to worry about feeding my brothers anymore and maybe having other kids running around the house would distract them. It felt like a betrayal, to just up and leave this house that held fond memories of our family before it became a wreck. I've gotten used to providing for my brothers, in fact running around at night seemed to be one of my sources for coping. When I stole things it felt like I was taking back what the world owed me for taking away my mother and sister, so if I no longer had to provide, what else was I going to do? Sure it was risky business, especially when the kids at school got a whiff of a rumor that someone was stealing things around town, but God did it feel great! 

Well, when everything was said and done I decided to continue my little thefts, sure it wasn't that often and I would only steal an onion there, or a package of meat there but I wanted to spite my father. I wanted to still be that provider for my brother's instead of just a human teddy bear after a nightmare or a shoulder to cry on. Besides, skills can turn rusty if you stop practicing, right? 

~Ryou 

In a week's time we waved our tearful goodbyes to our house and moved into our new home which seemed colder in comparison to our own house both mentally and physically. As brothers we were all forced into one room and had split it into three areas which were small but livable. Bakura had taken the far left as his side of the room, sulking all the while, I took the other side and Akefia the middle. We didn't mind rooming together since it was becoming a habit anyways, but we didn't really feel welcomed there. It was like the family we had moved in with was my father's present life, and we were just phantoms of his past. The girl that was Akefia's age was pretty stuck up and kept to herself, the two children close to Bakura and my age were annoying but I tried to play with them while Bakura sulked. Akefia and I adapted quite well after a week, the feeling of abandonment was there, but Bakura was another story. 

Bakura wanted absolutely nothing to do with this other family and would only eat in our room, he'd leave here and there to shower or if sometimes he couldn't fall asleep he'd watch TV when everyone else was asleep. The TV was always quiet though. One night after coming back from a run around the block, a habit Akefia developed over the weeks he decided to approach him on the topic. I was busy reading a book at the time but I couldn't help but eavesdrop especially when I heard Akefia gasp and grab Bakura's arm. 

"Bakura what the hell are these!?" Akefia whispered, but his voice was stern, the milky white arm he held up was covered in angry red lines, some were scabbed over with blood. 

He got no response as Bakura slowly removed his arm from his grasp, his eyes trained on the wall in a blank stare. Akefia was not going to take silence as an answer and in response he forced the younger to sit up and look at him as shocked, angry violets met uncaring brown. 

"When did you start doing this?" The tanned skinned boy asked slowly. I dropped my book in favor of retrieving the first aid kit, a sickening pit in my stomach. Ever since the accident I've been frightened of blood, but that didn't stop me from patching up Bakura after a fight. The fact that he did it to himself though....was worrisome...the fact I hadn't noticed these past days made me feel even sicker. As I returned to our bedroom, Bakura was set on Akefia's lap to restrain him if need be. I sat down and set to work on his arms, or at least tried to by the thought of my brother doing this to himself, at such a young age, that he was hurting so much and possibly blaming himself over the accident...I just couldn't handle it. I had to run out of the room and lock myself in the bathroom. 

~Akefia 

So I took over wrapping his arms even though he refused to say anything. He stayed silent through the whole ordeal even as I disinfected his wounds, but I refused to let him get away that easily. We're supposed to be here for each other, we've all seen what happened that day and if one was in pain we were supposed to support each other instead of shutting ourselves out from the world. 

"Bakura, I think you need to apologize to your brother. I know you're in a lot of pain, but from now on I would like you to tell one of us instead of hurting yourself to make you feel better. You don't have to...I just think you should," I said as I let go of his arms and got up to go comfort Ryou which usually involved holding him or braiding his hair. When we returned to our room we couldn't find Bakura anywhere and his bandages were laying on the ground by his bed. Shit. 

"Ryou, stay here in case he comes back. I'm going to see if I can catch him, he couldn't have gotten far," I responded, my heart beginning to race as a dozen thoughts rushed through my head as to what he could be doing. I ignored Ryou's wavering reply as I raced out of the house, ignoring the questions as to where I was going this late at night. I had to catch him before he got into serious trouble, this wasn't normal for Bakura! 

~Bakura 

I stared at the bandages wrapped around my arms, wondering why someone would make something so pathetic for a waste of space like me. I was stupid enough to cut up my arms, someplace where anyone could see, and now they were set with the task of once again taking care of emotionally unstable Bakura. Stupid me. Stupid people like me didn't deserve to have their wounds taken care of, to be covered up, stupid people like me didn't deserve to live. If I wasn't born mom and Amane would still be alive, we wouldn't have to live here with people who would rather we have not existed. Yeah...people like me didn't deserve to live...so maybe I should do something about it...but how? 

I stood up, slowly unwrapping the bandages from my arms, after all they wouldn't be needed where I was going. I let them fall to the floor before I walked out of our bedroom as quietly as possible. It was pretty easy sneaking past everyone, I don't even think they heard me when I opened the front door, just goes to show how much I'm not needed. I walked into the cold night air that smelled of petrichor and decided to see where my feet would carry me, all the while these thoughts that have been plaguing me for awhile kept me company. 

Ever since I was born I was a trouble maker, I was an inconvenience to everyone around me, another child to feed, another child to try and discipline to no avail. I know the last thing my mother would like to see would be my face, but I couldn't help but try to see her somehow, just one last time before I descended into hell. I wanted to apologize to her, I wanted to apologize to Amane. By taking my own life, my brothers wouldn't have to worry about me, they would be able to live on without carrying a dead weight like me around. They could figure out how they wanted to divide my possessions, I didn't have much to my name after all. 

Yeah, I admit these were pretty dark thoughts for an eight year old kid, but with circumstances the way they were I matured fast for my age. All I wanted to do was to stop the ache and pain, to stop the sleepless nights, to stop the nightmares, the guilt from consuming me. Yes, I realize now that this was rather selfish of me, to break the mental promise we held that we would hold on for each other, but god I was so tired. It didn't matter anymore. I had no friends. The teachers hated me. School was a waste. It just wasn't worth the pain anymore. 

Soon my feet had carried me to a big bridge and I couldn't help but laugh a bit, but it had no humor to it. Hell it could've just been considered a cough or a sigh for all I cared. This would do. I didn't need something elaborate like mixing medication or cutting deep into my skin and the fact that I was a shit swimmer only gave me a greater advantage. Who was I kidding I was shit at everything. As I slowly made my way over the bars so I stood behind them, above choppy waters, I realized it had began to ran. My hands grasped the railing to hold me steady, slowly loosening, my heart anticipating the fall, I could hear the wind begin to roar in my ears but it sounded a little strange. When my fingers finally loosened and I began to fall, I was shocked force on my chest held me back. The force quickly dragging me back away from the water and throwing me back on the bridge where I hit my head harshly enough to see stars. 

When I looked up and blinked the rain away I saw Akefia, his chest heaving from running all the way here, his eyes were glistening with tears. What came next was a hot flash of pain on my cheek when he walked forward and then he was crushing me against him and sobbing harshly. 

"Y-You I-I-idiot," he sobbed as he rocked us back and forth in the pouring rain,"Don't y-y-you ever s-scared me l-like that a-again...d-don't you ev-ever...I-I c-can't l-lose you to..." 

"K-Kefi..." I whispered the nickname that Ryou and I always called him when we were younger since we were too lazy to say his full name,"I-I wanted to see Mom and Amane again..." 

"I-I k-know. I w-want to aswell. B-But I can't leave you two here, she'd want us to continue living," he sobbed. 

"But I'm not worth it, I'm just a burden-" 

"You are not a burden. Ryou and I both love you. W-We love you so much, w-we want you to be happy. I-It's not your fault what ha-happened, w-we don't b-blame you, y-you didn't know a-and any one of us could've done it," he interrupted, trying to keep his voice steady again his white hair sticking to his face. Then he placed both his hands on my face and tilted it up so I was staring face to face with him,"Bakura...you have to promise me y-you will never do this again. E-Ever. If you need help..if you're feeling depressed and need someone to talk to, then b-bother one of us. Please. Whatever time of day...we can't afford to lose you to. Promise." 

Akefia. Ever since their deaths he had always hidden his tears from us. He taught me how to thieve and how to fight. He provided for us, he was a father to us, he chased away the nightmares for us. Now he was reduced to tears. He was broken. He held the weight of the whole world on his shoulders and continued to hold that weight all by his lonesome until he met the girl of his dreams. I was the cause of his breakdown, I was the selfish one, and as he asked me to promise him I felt tears leap into my own eyes. My chest hurt, the second to the pain I had felt after I found out that they were dead. 

"Promise me, promise us Bakura," Akefia repeated, shaking my shoulders a little bit, his tone desperate. I lowered my head and began to cry,"I-I'm s-sorry...I-I'm s-sorry....p-promise...I-I promise...I-I s-swear on th-their gr-graves." 

And then I was enveloped in warmth again as we both sat there, getting soaked, crying in each others arms for God only knows how long. When we both had calmed down and the rain had stopped, that's when we began the trek home, or at least Akefia. I couldn't remember much of it since I began to pass out but when we got home the only one awake was Ryou who gave us one look and rushed to go get towels and a change of clothes. 

Least to say we didn't do much that night except for getting in dry clothes, brushing, drying and braiding our hair, and falling asleep with Akefia. And that's how I started to come here to this place, a.k.a. your office at school since we couldn't afford to pay for actual help. Just to be clear I'm not actually telling you any of this, I'm hiding all sorts of secrets from you. I lie and say my home life is just fine, that I'm just depressed over my mother and sister, that way when you talk to my father he won't figure out what's really going on. In fact, we're all hiding things from you, instead we're writing it down away from your prying eyes, but now is the time you'll get to know how our shitty lives, filled with darkness, turned into light. Let's hope you can keep up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: Hiii, I'm sorry for so much description for these two chapters. They're kind of like the introduction but not really. I decided it would be cool to have all three brothers fill in their own point of views leading up to when they met their lovers. Next chapter will be a huge time skip and the Ishtars will be introduced! Enjoy!

**Author's Note:**

> So this was actually a really old story that I wrote, but was before I had archive of our own. I revised it and decided I would put it up here. So enjoy! Also Marik and those guys will come in the later chapters. This mostly may be centered around Bakura, but I'm hoping to sort of arrange it so each brother's POV arises once per chapter at least.


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